Well, if it could lower prices that'd be nice. Or give us really good figures for what we are paying now.

 

There isn't a company alive that saves money by off-shoring labor in order to pass it on to the consumer. That's strictly to increase profit margins.

 

So now we will get crappy knock off looking stiff with even worse quality plastic than we have now? Joy.

 

Dem Vietnamese is cheap but dey ain't da cheapest. MOVE IT TO INDIA.

 

I don't think thats how it works, I'm sure the quality will stay the same, but I don't know how this stuff works.

 

Maybe. Part of why us Marvel Legends guys were kinda happy about Hasbro winning the license from ToyBiz was that Hasbro is a huge company that is on the ground in China, is on top of manufacturing, and has very consistent production, as opposed to ToyBiz who had to contract out each series with some outside company.

That was years ago though. Nowadays - who knows. How has Vietnam actually affected the quality of toys? Hard to say, although there have been many instances of gummy soft plastic used in Marvel Legends recently which is a bummer, it's hard to define exactly how that's been happening, because that could be defined by Hasbro themselves.

 

What to expect?

An increase in lunch-time specials.

Molds and tooling getting lost in transition.

 

Not necessarily true. Yes. they are (obviously) hoping such a move will increase their profits, but that could happen either by increasing their profit margin per figure (i.e. pocket the savings from reduced labor costs) or the volume of products sold (same profit margin per figure, but increased sales due to a lower MSRP). Guess we'll find out soon enough.

 

I bet that's just the type of plastic Hasbro wants. I collect Star Wars Black Series and their accessories suffer the worst of it. I don't want a rifle that can shoot around corners because it's so soft that it's curved.

I only really collect MPs now and I haven't seen much difference in stuff that was made in Vietnam as opposed to China. I specifically remember MP-22 being from Vietnam, not sure about the rest.

 

$215 a month?! That's fucked up! Poor bastards in 3rd world countries. Make a Poor-ta Rican like me feel like Ritchie Rich!

 

Current prices actually have been the MSRP for years - it was the retailers like Target and such underselling toys to move more product at a lower profit margin - which was made up largely in part to wholesale produce sales in those same stores.

The price inflation in the past decade to what the MSRP generally always has been since the mid-2000's was brought about mainly by a combination of rising oil prices (so shipping these things cost exponentially more per gallon of fuel burned) and economic recession.

The value of most TF figures these days is actually pretty good, truth be told. The average CW deluxe is about $15, and the included comic could retail by itself for about $5, so it's a $10 toy packaged with it.

 

So, they've chewed through the labor force in Vietnam, and now they'll move production to a place where the people get paid less, and they'll chew through them, too. After India, I'm sure they'll move to Africa where China has been building a ton of infrastructure. I bet they'll eventually figure out a way to pay the workers nothing. Maybe some food every day.
I walk a weird line with this hobby. One where I'm aware of the damage being done to the people making the children's toys I collect, but I shut it off in my brain. I think labor practices all over the world are fucked, and there's nothing anyone can do about it except maybe dip out and abstain completely. I'm just rambling, I guess. Sometimes stuff just really sucks.

 

Why the masks over their faces? Is just in case they cough or is Elmo toxic?

 

Naaaaaaan !

 

Yeah, the gummy plastic isn't a problem with the factory as much as its how the figures were intentionally designed. Its a "so kids don't break the joints" intentional design to make the figures more durable for play. The intent from a design standpoint is similar to how so many transformers have ball joints that are designed to pop apart when too much pressure is applied to prevent breakage. Unfortunately getting the vinyl/plastic mix isn't exactly a precise science so sometimes it ends up a bit more on the gummy side rather than firm wich has been an issue since the Toybiz days for Marvel Legends (and is an occasional issue with Mattels collector figures too). It sucks, but its also a requirement to pass Hasbro's play-testing regulations.

 

Nope. Cheaper labor. Allows Hasbro to keep the product relatively the same while still increasing profit margins.

It's the same reasons prices won't go down.

If they're working in manufacturing that's a long day of standing in a room with various types of plastics being melted, formed, cooled, cut, scraped, and painted. In the US there's lots of OSHA considerations to ensure employee safety.

In other countries... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

Yeah since pretty everything else we use and wear comes from a sweat shop, I feel ya....With that being said yeah glad it's moving to India, time to make them rich instead of China.

 

I was asking myself the same thing Scypris! Are they making "Infect Me Elmo"?

Honestly, those poor women are just happy to be earning a living without doing it in a filthy sweatshop; at least that factory looks decent. Hopefully Hasbro is good enough to at least treat them well even if they are woefully underpaid.

Still, I wonder how astronomically high the prices of Transformers would be if they were "MADE IN USA", $25.00 Deluxes anyone? I'd like to believe that the QC would finally be immaculate. If that were the case, and if distribution and availability increased by quadruple, then it might just be worth it, maybe...